SIVASTROTAVALI by Utpaladeva From Stotra One: The Pleasure of Devotion We praise the one who is filled with devotion,

Who meditates not nor recites by the rule, And yet without any effort at all Attains the splendor of Shiva. Even the path of worldly living Becomes blissful for the devotees Who have obtained your blessing, O Lord, And who live inside your realm. When everything in the world is in your form, How could there be a place Not suitable for devotees? Where in the world does their mantra Fail to bear fruit? Triumphant are they, intoxicated With the celestial drink of devotion. They are beyond duality Yet retain you as "the other." Only those who are immersed In the joy of fervent devotion Know the essence, O Lord, Of your boundless ocean of bliss. Lord! When the objective world has dissolved Through a state of deep meditation, You stand alone -And who does not see you then? But even in the state of differentiation Between the knower and the known, You are easily seen by the devotees. Just as Devi, Your most beloved, endless pool of bliss, Is inseparable from you, So may your devotion alone Be inseparable from me. The path of the senses is threefold, Marked by pleasure, pain, and delusion. For the devotee this is the path That leads to your attainment. How wonderful it is that the mind, O Lord, In essence the seed of all suffering, When doused with the nectar of devotion, Bears the magnificent fruit of beatitude. From Stotra Twenty: The Meaning Savored 1

I bow to the Master, Lord of the Three Worlds, White with ashes, three-eyed, Bearing the serpent as sacred thread And crescent moon as diadem. Homage to the one wearing as raiment His own lustrous halo of radiant beams, Bedecked with a glittering garland of skulls For the festival of dance at the end of the world. I bow to the eternally sacred abodes, Whose deity is Hara, Whose activities are worthy of Hara, And whose very breath of life is dedicated Only to Hara. When the whole universe Honors just this much of your splendor -The mere play in the world -How infinite indeed Must be your bliss! I bow to those who, Going nowhere and renouncing nothing, Yet view all this as your glorious abode. What else remains to be desired By those rolling in the wealth of devotion? For those deprived of it, What else is worthy of desire? From the Third Song: The Gift of Affection O Lord of the Universe! How lucky are your devotees, Worthy of being adored by you. For them, this turbulent ocean of the world Is like a great pleasure-lake For their amusement. From the Fourth Song: Potent Nectar He who utters the name of Shiva Hundreds and hundreds of times Grows great through the showering Of the sweet, sublime nectar. The marvelous power of this word Enters even into the hearts of fools. And that word, which flows like honey From the nectar-crescent of the moon, Causes the highest nectar to flow -That is the sound of Shiva. The blessed Ever have this sound upon their lips. 2

From the Sixteenth Song: Breaking out of the Fetters What indeed is there in the world That does not conceal you? Yet nothing exists that can conceal You from the devotees. Attained by so many disciples And with so many attributes You appear at all times to the devotees In your true form, O Lord. Triumphant, they laugh, And vanquished, they laugh even more -Leaving behind not only base powers, But liberation itself. In the same way that it arose in me, Allow this love of devotion Previously unknown to me To grow greater still, O Lord. Truly, I have no other entreaty but this: Let me for all time, O Lord, Be consumed with unending devotion. Let me be enraged and yet Compassionate toward the world. And thus in the madness of devotion May I laugh and weep and chant Shiva, thunderously. What is called liberation Is simply the ripeness of devotion, O Lord. Having taken the first steps toward that, We are even now almost liberated. Here in this world Another world exists That bears as fruit joyousness For your devotees. May there be devotion to you As the Secret One, as the Transcendent One, As Lord of the Universe, As Shambhu, as Shiva, As the Celestial One. Ah, how indeed could I ever express it? Devotion, devotion, devotion To the Transcendent One. Ardent devotion! This is why I cry and clamor! Let me have ardent devotion for you, Only you. 3